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International Office News
April 2015
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India, April 2015, with Ven. Roger Kunsang and Ven. Tendar.
Photo courtesy of the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
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News from FPMT Charitable Projects: Robes Offered Every Month to Precious Buddha Statue
Friends of FPMT – New Benefits
Have this translated into your native language by using our convenient translation facility located on the right-hand side of the page. French and Spanish speakers will find the FPMT International Office News translated each month in the “Bienvenue” and “Bienvenidos” tabs on the FPMT homepage!
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche in front of his cave in Lawudo, Nepal, April 2015.
Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s News:
News, Activities and Advice
Highlights from our blogs on FPMT.org:
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Root Institute
While staying at Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India, Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained a verse from Lama Chöpa that he had written out to be put in front of the large Nagarjuna statue at the center. Watch the video!
Message to Maitreya School Children
Lama Zopa Rinpoche dictated this letter to the students of Maitreya School, Root Institute’s free school benefiting local impoverished children in Bodhgaya, India. Rinpoche wrote the letter after the school master explained that the main problem the children faced was parents drinking and fighting. Rinpoche asked that this letter be translated into Hindi, framed, put on the wall, and read and explained often to the students.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaching at Sujata, India, March 2015.
Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
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Lama Zopa Rinpoche taught at Sujata, India, the site where Buddha practiced austerities for six years before later attaining enlightenment at the site of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya. Ven. Roger Kunsang shared some brief quotes from the teaching:
“First, you don’t harm others, that’s the basis. Then as much as you can, benefit others. As long as you hold onto the fire, the pain will not stop. So as long as you hold on to the ’I,’ the suffering will not stop.”
Keep up to date with Lama Zopa Rinpoche News. Find a wide range of advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche on Rinpoche’s Advice page. Go to the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive for lots more advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Rinpoche’s Schedule
Find more details about these events, including links to hosting centers and program titles. Subscribe to our FPMT news blog to get updates as soon as they are announced.
April 27 – 30 Most Secret Hayagriva initiation, Kopan Monastery, Nepal
May 9 – 24 Teachings and initiations, New Zealand
May 26 – June 18 Teachings and initiations, Australia
June 30 – July 5 Teachings and initiation, Russia
July 11 – 20 Teaching, Heruka 5 Deities initiation, The Netherlands
July 25 – 26 Great Medicine Buddha initiation, Denmark
September 5 – 12 Lam-rim retreat in Mexico
September 18 – 20 Teachings and initiation, Centro Yamantaka, Colombia
September 25 – 27 Lam-rim retreat, Centro Shiwa Lha, Brazil
Nov/Dec Teachings during the one-month lam-rim course, Kopan Monastery, Nepal
September 11 – 26, 2016 Light of the Path retreat, Kadampa Center, USA
Rinpoche Available Now – Enjoy livestreams and recordings of Rinpoche’s most recent teachings!
International Office News:
The New Mandala Magazine
With the growth of digital media and FPMT’s online presence flourishing, we decided it was time to reimagine Mandala magazine. As any long-time student of FPMT can tell you, Mandala has taken different forms over the three decades that it has been published. In June 2015, we unveil the newest, and we hope a very timeless and beautiful, version of Mandala!
The redesigned Mandala magazine will be published twice a year and will offer the highest quality teachings, stories, interviews and photos to instruct and inspire FPMT students. We are increasing the number of pages and moving our news stories online in order to create an enduring publication that students will want keep and read over again. As part of our transition, we are forgoing the April-June 2015 issue. Our next print issue will be July-December 2015, which will come out in June 2015.
Mandala’s expanded online publishing includes a new feature story every month. In this month’s feature, learn more about what goes inside an FPMT prayer wheel: the story of how student Tai Vautier helped combine microfilm with an ancient spiritual technology.
 Lama Zopa Rinpoche sitting on the top of his cave in Lawudo, Nepal, April 2015, taking great interest in the snow-covered mountains and everything going on in the valley below.
Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
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News from FPMT Education Services
- Video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche Chanting Lama Chöpa Tunes: three new videos of Rinpoche chanting Lama Chöpa in three ways: fast-paced, medium-paced, and slow-paced. These videos provide an incredibly precious resource for FPMT students as learning these tunes will help ensure that the lineage of this practice is preserved.
- New Basic Program Online Course Available: Engaging in the Bodhisattva Deeds, Part 1
- Découverte du bouddhisme en français: Le Editions Mahayana est heureux de vous proposer d’étudier en ligne les modules d e Découverte du bouddhisme sur la base d’une donation libre. Un nouveau module vient d’être créé : n° 6 “Tout sur le karma”. Apprenez ce qu’est le karma et comment fonctionne la loi de cause à effet. Découvrez des solutions pour vivre votre vie de la façon la plus positive possible!
- eBooks Available: Several FPMT Education Services materials, including sutras, are available as eBooks in .mobi and .epub format. The .mobi file format is usable on Kindle devices and the .epub format is usable on most other e-reader devices.
The Puja Fund offers the best quality robes to the Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India every month.
Photo by Ven. Thubten Kunsang.
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News from FPMT Charitable Projects: Robes Offered Every Month to Precious Buddha Statue
Every month the Puja Fund sponsors a new set of best quality robes to be offered to the precious Buddha statue inside the Mahabodhi Stupa in Bodhgaya, India. Please read more and enjoy the video filmed during the robes offering in March 2015.
“If someone offers a small flower or rice to a Buddha statue, a stupa, or scripture then the benefit extends from then up to enlightenment. Amazing, amazing!” – Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Friends of FPMT – New Benefits
There are new benefits for all our Friends! Dharma Supporters and Patron Friends for example can now instantly download over 150 prayer books, pujas, sadhanas, and other practice and study texts from FPMT Education Services, and have unrestricted access to all Online Learning Center courses like Discovering Buddhism and Basic Program, as well as a Mandala magazine subscription and free ebooks! Joining Friends of FPMT is a great way to support the Foundation and have almost every FPMT Education material in the palm of your hand! Read more about the program …
Sign up to receive daily posts of all FPMT news blogs via email.
For Center, Project and Service Directors, SPCs, Board Members, Registered Teachers and Coordinators:
(This advice is specifically for those offering service in the roles listed above.)
Good Governance Guideline
This new guideline gives the key points for good governance, generic for all boards, executive committees and trusts. “Good Governance” joins the other guidelines designed to help boards and management committees in the FPMT Affiliates Area.
Additionally, your national or regional coordinator will be adding locally-specific information to this generic guideline.
FPMT World:
Rejoice:
Yaron Bashir, director, writes:
“We are happy to announce the opening of the 7th Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translator Program, the FPMT four-year interpreter training course. The course will take place in Dharmsala, India for the first two years followed by a further two years of apprenticeship in an FPMT center. We will study colloquial and classical Tibetan, interpreting skills and Buddhist terminology in Tibetan for a variety of topics: lam-rim, lo-jong, tenets, debate etc.
If you want to serve the world by interpreting or deepen your understanding of the Dharma, you are welcome to join the course. For more details and registration please visit our website lrztp.org.”
Institut Vajra Yogini, France started a fourth round of 108 nyung näs in November 2014, and halfway through, report that almost 600 nyung näs have been accumulated by more than 80 different people! Five people still intend to do the full 108 nyung näs. To make it possible for people to commit for the whole seven months of this intense practice, Lama Zopa Rinpoche is personally sponsoring each year up to 10 people willing to do 100 nyung näs through the Lama Zopa Rinpoche Bodhichitta Fund. Institut Vajra Yogini started this annual retreat with the wish to help fulfill one of Rinpoche’s Vast Visions: that some Western practitioners might successfully complete 1,000 nyung näs.
A fifth round will probably start from mid-November 2015 to end of June 2016. Please contact Institut Vajra Yogini if you are interested in participating in any way.
Opportunities to Offer Service in FPMT
Please check out the regularly updated meritorious opportunities to offer service as a volunteer or as paid staff in FPMT centers, projects and services around the world!
NEW: Tara’s Children Project and Maitreya School, projects of Root Institute, India, are looking for short- and long-term volunteers to teach English; Kadampa Center, USA has an opening for a full-time center manager; Milarepa Center, USA is looking for a full-time facilities and land manager.
Impermanence at Work
We welcome the first national coordinator for India – Dee Shekhar!
FPMTIndia@gmail.com
Centro Yamantaka, Colombia
centroyamantakabog@gmail.com
We welcome Ampara Mejia as director (was co-director)
Grateful thanks to outgoing co-director – Olga Lucía Sierra Santos
Ksitigarbha Center, USA
We welcome new spiritual program coordinator (SPC) – Sara Hanlon
With grateful thanks to outgoing SPC – Ven. Nyikhil
Tara Mandala Centre, Germany
We welcome new director – Birgit Pätzold
With grateful thanks to outgoing director – Sabine Green
Closed study group: Land for Nagarjuna’s Sutra and Tantra Study Group, USA – we rejoice in their efforts to serve sentient beings.
With love,
FPMT International Office
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